The Final Four is more than a week away, but college basketball’s annual offseason intrigue already is at full boil, especially here in our little corner of paradise. We’ve got it all, from conference realignment to the coaching carousel and all the related dominoes.

Start with the Newport News-based Atlantic 10 Conference. Stung but not surprised by the recent defections of Butler and Xavier to the new Big East, the A-10 moved rapidly and wisely to snatch George Mason, a charter member of the Richmond-based Colonial Athletic Association.

The official announcement came Monday, but the Patriots and A-10 had been courting for at least a year, and the moment Butler and Xavier bailed, George Mason became Plan A.

Among established, basketball-centric leagues, the A-10 had no superior this season, qualifying five teams for the NCAA tournament, more than the ACC and Southeastern Conference, as many as the Big 12 and Pacific 12. Losing Xavier and Butler damaged the product, but George Mason, a 2006 Final Four program, was the best available reinforcement.

The benefits for the Patriots are multi-layered. First, they join a conference not beholden to football, the sport that drives most decisions in most leagues, including the CAA. Second, the move reunites them with former CAA colleagues Richmond and VCU, and links them with Washington-area neighbor George Washington.

No rube he, George Mason athletic director Tom O’Connor, a former chair of the NCAA tournament selection committee, understands that realignment is likely to continue and affect the Patriots’ new home.

To wit: The new Big East stands at 10, with Xavier, Butler and the Missouri Valley’s Creighton hooking up with the old Big East’s Catholic 7. If they decide 12 is the ideal size, some combination of the A-10’s Saint Louis, Dayton and Richmond come into play, and even A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade concedes her league is unable to match the new Big East’s television windfall.

But even if the new Big East poaches the A-10 again, it’s still the preferable home for a basketball school such as George Mason. More so, if the A-10 is able to land another strong program such as Southern Conference bigfoot Davidson.

VCU left the CAA for the A-10 less than a year ago and prospered immediately. The Rams finished second to Saint Louis this season, earned an at-large NCAA bid and advanced past Akron before Saturday’s humbling defeat to Michigan.

The well-worth-it price of that success — VCU is among eight programs to advance in each of the last three NCAA tournaments — is more suitors for Rams coach Shaka Smart.

After guiding the Rams to the 2011 Final Four, Smart resisted overtures from North Carolina State and heaven knows who else. Last year it was Illinois and Virginia Tech, and now it’s Minnesota and UCLA.

Coincidentally, the Gophers and Bruins clashed in the NCAA tournament Friday — Minnesota won — and in less than 72 hours, head coaches Tubby Smith and Ben Howland had been fired. Not every day that both coaches from a tournament game are turfed.

The Minnesota-Smart connection is obvious: Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague and associate Mike Ellis worked in the same capacities at VCU and hired him. But Friday was Minnesota’s first NCAA tournament victory since its 1997 Final Four, and given the jobs Smart has declined, I don’t imagine him heading to Minneapolis.

Nor do I see him in Los Angeles,11 national championships, albeit just one in the last 35 years, and Southern California lifestyle aside. The expectations of UCLA faithful are too absurd, and neither resources, facilities nor fan support measure up to those expectations.

Sure enough, Richmond area media reported Tuesday that Smart and VCU are close to agreeing on a contract extension, presumably with a pay bump. Good on both of them.

While VCU fans anticipate Smart's new deal, Old Dominion supporters wait for athletic director Wood Selig and university president John Broderick to conclude their coaching conclave.

Former Western Kentucky and Georgia coach Dennis Felton, who worked for Selig at WKU, remains in the mix. Other possible candidates include North Carolina assistant Steve Robinson, a former head coach at Tulsa and Florida State, and Ohio State assistant Dave Dickerson, a former big whistle at Tulane.

Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield was/is on ODU’s radar, the degree of interest for either party uncertain. But his Eagles’ improbable tournament upsets of Georgetown and San Diego State change everything.

Enfield now may view Florida Gulf Coast as more a destination job. Moreover, he will have many more schools inquiring of his availability.

With Selig hoping to appoint Blaine Taylor’s successor before the Final Four, time is a wastin’.

I can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. Follow me at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP